A heavyweight Cricket Bat is preferable if a batsman can swing both heavy and light bats at the same speed. Because the shot variations will be backed by power. The perfect bat has more to do with “dead weight,” as batting is an art that needs science to be completed.
Selecting a lightweight or heavyweight bat depends on a lot of factors. Those are
- Height
- Playing style
- Strength
- Batting technique(Rely more on front-foot or back-foot)
- Stance and grip
Apart from the technical and physical aspects, there is a psychological aspect. A player feels more confident with a heavy bat as he believes he can hit big sixes upon a proper middling.
Hence, it is better to self-analyse your strength and the type of player you are before picking up a lightweight or heavyweight bat.
If you have all types of shots to play like AB Devillers, Glenn Maxwell, you should go with the lightweight bat. The lightweight bat advantages offer flexibility so that you can play a variety of shots like reverse sweep, dilscoop, etc. Additionally, it backs your technique. Playing shots would be easier with a lightweight bat if compared to a heavyweight bat. To sum up, we can say lightweight bat for techniques, heavyweight bat for power shots. But sometimes, a heavyweight bat can cause injuries. So it’s better to analyze by yourself before picking up a lightweight or heavyweight bat. Most of the players start their career with a heavyweight bat and then reduce their bat’s weight with time to add techniques to their playing style.
There is a quick method to find out the right bat for you. Don’t order online. Visit a shop, pick a bat, and hold it vertically to your body by stretching your arm for a minute. If you perform this activity gently, then go for this bat. On the contrary, if you can’t perform the above, then that bat is not per you. Try with a lightweight cricket bat in that case. Some famous brands to consider while buying a cricket bat are SS, MRF, SG, BDM, SPARTAN.
Advantage of Lightweight Cricket Bats:
1. Developing technique
The first point that comes to our mind when we discuss lIghtweight bats advantage is building and developing your technique. You will able to focus on playing good cricketing shots as you can easily move your bat.
2. Better Shot Selection
Heavyweight cricket bat always limits the amount of momentum due to weight constrain. A lighter bat means a free swing of the bat in 360 degrees. A batsman gets more freedom in terms of the range of shorts with better control over the bat.
3. Developing New Shots
With the growing popularity of tennis ball cricket, strategies are made to score most death overs by using some unconventional cricketing shots. Switching grips with a lighter bat is perfect for hitting dilscoop, reverse sweep, uppercut etc.
Most cricketers use English Willow cricket bat rather than Kashmir Willow wood because the former is lighter than the latter.
4. Prevents Long-term Injury
If we take the example of Sachin, who used to play with heavyweight bats, we can observe, he had been suffering from tennis elbow throughout his career. So heavier bats can cause injuries. So cricketers should pick their bat with their own comfort level. Instead of buying online, you can visit a sports emporium or factory to buy a bat of your choice.
5. Aggressive Batting
The format of the game can be a reason behind selecting a light weighted cricket bat. Fast-paced 20-20 game demands run from the very first over. To play unorthodox shots and to change stance, many cricketers use lightweight bats. However, some muscular players use heavyweight bats to hit big sixes.
After understanding lightweight bats advantage, it’s time to keep an eye on heavyweight bats advantage.
Disadvantage of Lightweight Cricket Bats:
Lightweight bats disadvantages are as follows:
1. Less power
If you use a lightweight cricket bat, less power will be generated than a heavyweight cricket bat. As the bat doesn’t help you to cover more distance, you will have to rely on your wrist to hit a boundary.
2. Not appropriate for end overs
Death overs are very crucial, as around 30% of the total runs scored in the last ten overs. In this process, players hit maximum boundaries, especially sixes. However, it is mandatory to crunch the ball if you use a lightweight cricket bat. Otherwise, you will end up losing your wicket with a simple catch at the boundary. That’s the key reason players like Rahul Dravid and MS Dhoni switch to heavyweight cricket bats towards the innings.
Advantage of Heavyweight Cricket Bats:
1. More power
The biggest advantage of using a heavyweight bat is that it gives you more power than a lightweight cricket bat. More power will help the ball to cover more distance. A miss-timed shot can cross the boundary rope. From power hitters like Pollard, Russell heavyweight bats advantage can be understood. Because with the heavyweight cricket bat, they manage to do power-hitting effortlessly.
2. Broad edges
The heavyweight bat’s advantage is that it has broad edges. Without a proper middle, your ball still has chances to cross the boundary line. When balls of Jofra Archer, Mitchell Starc hit those broad edges, it will easily go for a six in the third-man or fine leg area.
3. Best for end overs and shorter formats
For shorter formats like T20s, batsman prefers to hit more boundaries. Even some players like Nicolas Pooran don’t hit many fours; rather, they deal with big sixes.
Disadvantage of Heavyweight Cricket Bats:
1. Makes you prone to injury
Like lightweight cricket bat, heavyweight cricket bats have their cons as well. It can tire your wrist in less time and make you injury-prone. For test cricket, there is a big no for heavyweight cricket bats. And in ODIs, players switch to heavy bats only in the last 4-5 overs to avoid hurting themselves.
2. Limited number of shots
A heavyweight cricket bat can reduce your shot selection. It limits the number of shots in a player’s notebook. Playing a pull shot or a square cut would be very difficult with a heavyweight cricket bat.
List of Famous Cricketers with their respective bat weights
When MS Dhoni hits sixes, we always think, what’s the weight of his bat? And who can forget Sachin’s heavy bat? And we always keep talking about bat weights of Russel, Pollard and Gayle. Let us discuss the bat weight of some famous cricketers. Sachin Tendulkar, Virendra Sehwag, Chris Gayle, and Andre Russell use a heavyweight bat, while players like AB Devillers, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma use lightweight bats.
The bat weight of Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, Virendra Sehwag, David Warner, AB Devillers, Kane Williamson are 1.47kg, 1.25kg, 1.35kg, 1.22kg, 1.19kg, 1.12kg, respectively. So Lance Klusener uses the heaviest bat, and Kane Williamson is the lightweight cricket bat user among all the cricketers.
